The present invention relates to a piece of cloth of flexible material.
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a roller blind for use in connection with roof windows mounted in pitched roofs, comprising a preferably spring-loaded roller tube which is mountable at the top of the frame or sash structure of the window and a flexible roller blind cloth rolled up thereon as well as means for retaining the roller blind cloth when rolled out against the spring-load on the roller tube at least in a fully rolled out condition of the cloth. Such a roller blind is a common thing for many people in their everyday life.
It is known to provide such roller blinds with pictures, patterns and/or colours to give them an attractive appearance in rolled out or rolled down condition.
Thus a polyester strip having adhesive on both sides for use in connection with adhesion of decorative material on a roller blind is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,636.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,848 discloses a translucent, but not transparent roller blind formed from a cloth on which a number of decorative figures has been glued/mounted, said figures partially overlapping, whereby a blind surface of varying layer thickness and subsequently translucency is obtained, as the decorative figures are also translucent.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,205,118 discloses a roller blind in which the cloth comprises two transparent sheets which are adhered to each other along their edges to form an envelope adapted to receive an ornamental sheet to provide a decorated blind.
U.S. Pat. No. 203,395 discloses an adjustable width window shade having a gathered ruffle at the bottom portion thereof. The ruffle is detachable at one end in view of the adjustment. It will not be able to roll up along with the shade on account of its thickness.
DK-C-64631 discloses a roller blind with transmitting openings, which blind hangs down vertically. A piece of a laterally displaceable cloth with corresponding light transmitting openings is suspended on the roller blind with the purpose, by its lateral displacement, of opening or closing the light transmitting openings of the roller blind. The laterally displaceable piece of cloth is not decorated and serves no decorative purpose.
The object of the present invention is to provide further possibilities for decorating a roller blind.
The object of the invention is met according to a first aspect in that a roller blind is provided with at least one additional cloth of flexible material fastened in a zone in parallel with the roller tube in such a way that, when the roller blind cloth is rolled out, the additional cloth will hang freely down therefrom and when the roller blind cloth is rolled up, it will follow the roller blind cloth during its rolling up on the roller tube.
The object according to a second aspect of the invention is achieved by means of a piece of cloth of flexible material which is characterized in being decorated and having a top edge portion which is horizontal relative to the decoration and which is adapted to be fastened to the cloth of a roller blind such that, when the roller blind cloth is unrolled, the piece of cloth will hang freely down therefrom and, when the roller blind is rolled up, the piece of cloth will follow the roller blind cloth during its rolling up on its roller tube. The upper edge portion is preferably provided with fastening means such as, for instance, an adhesive, a zipper, Velcro tape, snap fasteners or the like.
Preferably, several such pieces of cloth constitute a kit.
The object is met according to a third aspect of the invention is met by means of a roller blind characterized in that the cloth, in at least a comparatively narrow, ribbon-shaped in zone parallel with the roller tube, is designed for fastening an edge portion of an additional cloth of flexible material, such that, when the roller blind cloth is rolled out, the additional cloth will hang freely down therefrom and when the roller blind is rolled up, the additional cloth will follow the roller blind cloth during its rolling up on the roller tube. In this way an additional cloth with a decorative appearance can be mounted on the cloth of the roller blind, whereby an additional decorative effect is obtained.
The roller blind cloth and the additional cloth may in said zone or edge portion, respectively, be provided with means for detachable fastening of the additional cloth, which means may comprise a zip, snap fasteners, Velcro tape, adhesive tapes or the like. In this way the additional cloth and, consequently, its decorative effect may be changed.
The difference between the three aspects is that, according to the second aspect, decorative pieces of cloth are provided which may be mounted on a roller blind, whereas, according to the third aspect, a rollerblind is prepared for the fastening of such an additional decorative piece of cloth, which according to the first aspect is fastened.
The roller blind cloth is preferably provided with several of said zones which are preferably positioned such that the one cloth is or the additional cloths one, when the roller blind cloth is rolled out, fastened thereto at substantially equally spaced distances within an area which, from the roller tube, extends downwards approximately ⅔ of the fully rolled out length of the roller blind cloth. In this way, the opportunity is provided for mounting several additional pieces of cloth, whereby a spatial effect is obtainable which corresponds to the one known from theatre coulisses. The effect may be further enhanced by suitable decoration of the cloth of the roller blind itself.
When the cloth of the roller blind according to the second aspect of the invention is designed for the fastening of a further cloth, it is to be understood that there are position indications in the form of markings for the positioning of the edge area of the additional cloth when it is to be fastened, for instance by gluing, or the roller blind cloth is provided with said means for detachable fastening of the additional cloth.
The reason why the additional cloth is to be fastened in a zone in parallel with the roller tube is that an additional cloth fastened in an oblique zone would cause problems during rolling up, because the obliquely fastened cloth would be prone to cause a skewed rolling up of the roller blind cloth on the roller tube. It is, however, to be understood that a small deviation of the zone from strictly parallel will not impede the rolling up of the roller blind and, therefore, falls within the scope of the invention.
In respect of the number of additional cloths and their fastening means, the number is only limited by the consideration that, at a given use, there may be limited room for the roller tube with a fully rolled-up roller blind.
It is to be understood that the additional cloth may extend over a bigger or smaller width of the roller blind, provided that it is or they are, if several are placed in a row, be placed symmetrically relative to the centre of the roller blind, as problems may otherwise arise in form of a skewed rolling up.
It should further be understood that the additional cloth may be slit, for instance in form of frills.